There is something missing from our world; the amazing animals that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?
We're going back in time on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurers Nigel Marven and the Brothers Kratt plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. Their plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
Their next adventure is into the Ice Age, where they'll come face to face with a woolly rhino, survive a showdown with a colossal cave bear, and solve the mystery of what is killing the last mammoth on Earth.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.
Prehistoric Park is starting to come to life. Amongst the hills and valleys of this huge reserve, dinosaurs are getting used to their surroundings. One day, Nigel Marven plans to breed extinct animals in captivity. But for now, he's starting off by only bringing a few of each species back to see how they get on in the 21st century. Aiding him are the adventurous Kratt Brothers Martin and Chris.
Feeding time at T-rex Hill, and the three creature adventurers stopped by to see how things were getting along.
The Park's latest newcomers seem to be settling in well.
"Just a bit more... Stop right there! Right, keep the tension at the back." Park keeper Bob ordered as he and several other able bodied men were busy operating a makeshift wooden crane, with a generous slab of meat hoisted by a rope. So preoccupied were they by their work, they hardly noticed Nigel and the Kratt Brothers stepping out of the Createrra to investigate.
"What an ingenious contraption!"said Nigel. "How are they doing?"
"I'm guessing that this is Aviva's handiwork?"asked Martin thoughtfully, looking up at the mechanism.
"Not bad, but they're big beasts with big appetites."the head keeper replied. "Aye, Aviva actually designed this crane to help feed the T-rexes without losin' an arm or a leg."
Head Park Keeper Bob and his team are facing their first big challenge: keeping the Park's two baby T-rex happy.
Drawn in by the smell of fresh meat, the T-rexes, brother and sister Terence and Matilda, sprang out of the undergrowth before the edge of the fence, eagerly awaiting their lunch.
When Nigel and the Kratt Brothers found them, they had just been orphaned after their mother was fatally injured in a fight. The trio managed to save them from certain death just before a massive meteorite hit.
The keepers hoisted the rope with all their combined strength, lifting the dainty morsel directly over the paddock.
"Take it away!"shouted Bob. "Yeah, all right, bring that 'round."
Feeding the T-rex means meat and plenty of it. When they arrived at the Park, the T-rex were half-starved, but they've been making up for it ever since.
Seeing the meat coming their way, the two carnivores raced to the feeding station with open jaws.
"I'm not telling Bob everything about T-rex feeding habits, he'd be so depressed!" Nigel whispered to the film crew and the brothers, who snickered.
"Yeah, T-rex babies grow incredibly fast." Chris remarked. The crane moved in a counterclockwise motion, coming to a complete stop once it was directly overhead of the hungry T-rex siblings.
Terence and Matilda will double their size every year until they grow to the length of a double-decker bus and weigh five tons.
The voracious young dinosaurs snapped their at the hunk of meat, making leaps at the suspended morsel hanging just out of reach.
"They're voracious, aren't they?" Nigel remarked. "Look at that, leaping for that!"
"Yup. They're hungry enough. They definitely want that meat." Martin observed. It was time to let them have it.
The instant that the meat was dropped, the T-rexes were quickly upon it, ripping and tearing away mouthful after mouthful.
"You see those teeth?"said Nigel. "They've got serrated teeth like sharks and they're slicing off chunks of flesh. No wonder they eat so much! They're polishing that off!"
"And when they reach full size, their teeth will become broad railroad spikes designed for crushing and smashing bone."added the Kratt in green, pulling out a fossilized tooth of a grown rex.
"I wouldn't wanna be in there, I'll tell you that!" Martin remarked, earning laughs from everyone present. Inside of the enclosure, Matilda quickly asserted her dominance and staked her claim on the meat. Terence could only look on helplessly as his larger, more dominant sister dragged the meal to a more shady place to eat. He would have to wait his turn.
Now Nigel's planning his next adventure. He's decided to rescue one of the most famous of all extinct animals, the woolly mammoth, the long-lost relative of modern-day elephants.
Before their planned departure, the trio decided to pay a visit to the park's resident herd of African elephants. The dozen or so pachyderms spent much of their day eating and relaxing in the coolness of their favorite mud wallows under the care of their keepers.
"This is Thornsley."said Martin, introducing the adorable elephant calf to the audience. "He's a baby African elephant." Thornsley gave a squeaky trumpet as if in response to the introductions.
"We adore elephants."said Nigel fondly. "And of course, they have a long history."
"There were many different species of elephant in the past, most notably the mastodons and mammoth." Chris informed, standing besides a grown cow, likely the herd matriarch and the calf's mother. He patted her on the shoulder, offering a treat which she happily accepted.
Nigel nodded as he added, "People think they had the same family life, the same social history, but I want to do is to travel back in time and find out whether that's true, and maybe even bring a woolly mammoth or two back to Prehistoric Park."he then turned to the matriarch, leaning against her wrinkled face. "Would you like to meet a woolly mammoth?"he cooed. "You would, would you?"
As in any conservation project, it's the most endangered animals Nigel wants to rescue, so he's got to travel back to the time that mammoths were on their last legs. That was at the end of the lce Age. Freezing plains were the home to huge herds of mammoth, but 10,000 years ago, it all changed. Their world was turned upside down because of global warming.
The ice was disappearing and so were the mammoths.
After spending the morning with the elephants, the trio gathered at headquarters to get their expedition under way.
"This is at the end of the last lce Age."said Nigel, gesturing to the map on the wall, the world looking vastly similar to its present state with the exception of glaciers fringing along the north. "And what was happening, it was still cold, but the ice sheets, they were receding northwards and the mammoths were going there too."
Chris held up a holographic projection of a globe from his Creaturepod. "According to Aviva and Koki's research, the last surviving mammoths on the mainland were found here, just east of the Urals in Siberia."
"Then that's where we need to go!"said Martin.
By going back to the brink of extinction, they'll see for themselves what killed off these magnificent beasts and get their chance to save the woolly mammoth. The time portal is set to take him back to the last lce Age, 10,000 years ago.
*Siberia, 10,000 years ago...
Three snowmobiles drifted over a vast frozen lake ringed by mighty mountains. On its shores was a seemingly endless ocean of green trees. Aside from the howling winds and the calls of various arctic birds, the land was eerily silent.
Here in the lce Age, the warming of the climate has already changed this world. What once was rich, open grassland covered in grazing mammoths has now been invaded by dense forest.
This is no place for a mammoth. Finding the last ones left alive is not going to be easy.
After what felt like an eternity, the snowmobiles stopped in the middle of a snow covered clearing, surrounded by various conifer trees like spruce, pines, and firs just to name a few.
"We've gone for miles in this forest, it just seems so limitless."said Martin, taking in the scenery.
"The climate's warming, and caterpillars can survive on pine needles, but a six-ton mammoth, no way, there's just not enough nutrition."added Nigel.
"We're seeing the beginnings of the taiga, or boreal forest, the largest land biome in the world." Chris informed. "It stretches throughout the high northern latitudes."
It's this lack of good food that's brought the mammoth population to its knees.
"It looks like there's nothing but trees here."griped Martin.
"This will be like looking for a flea on an elephant."added Chris.
"Let's keep moving."the Englishman suggested.
The boys had fewer options but to move on, pushing deeper into the woods.
But at last, the trio find something to break the monotony: A prehistoric cave they can't resist exploring.
After leaving their snowmobiles parked close by, the three approached the mouth of the cave. Just then, a low, rumbling snarl echoed throughout the cavern. The trio slowly backed out of the mouth of the cave.
"No sudden moves."cautioned Nigel. Another growl could be heard bouncing off the cave walls, before a huge, hairy figure emerged from the shadows.
Martin's eyes flew wide open. "Is that–" He was cut off as the beast let out a thundering roar.
The men have chosen the wrong creature to disturb.
Chris gulped as he nodded. "Ursus spelaeus. Cave bear!" As the cave bear rose to his full height on his hind legs, Nigel, Martin, and Chris made a hasty retreat, tripping and tumbling over the snow. Knowing that the ill-tempered brute would overtake them in the time it would take to reach the snowmobiles, they bolted for the trees.
Cave bears stand 13 feet tall, weighing up to three-quarters of a ton, and are more muscular than any other bear.
Moments later, the monstrous bear gave chase!
"Get moving!" Nigel urged. They could hear the huffing breath of the colossus, the snapping of twigs and branches as he crashed through the undergrowth, water splashing as he ran through a shallow puddle.
"Split up! He can't follow us all!"shouted Chris, willing himself not to look back. Martin did so, then wished he hadn't; the massive bruin was gaining on them!
Nigel quickened his pace as the bear was literally at his heels. "Run! Run! Drop the camera if you have to! Just move, move, move! Move!"
The cameraman was not so lucky; the cave bear succeeded in tripping over his prey, and there was nowhere to run. The hulking bruin rose upon his hind legs, easily towering over the unfortunate human. With a terrifying roar, he brought his paw down in one tremendous swipe.
Then everything faded to black.
Cave bears may be huge, but luckily they can't climb trees.
The screen was hazy at first as the cameraman regained consciousness, dazed and disoriented but very much alive.
"There you are, I'm up here!"came Nigel's voice from overhead. The camera was pointed upwards to reveal the zoologist perched among the branches of a spruce tree, too high for even the towering cave bear to reach. "I'm sorry about that."he said apologetically as he made his way down. "I was sure they were extinct...at this time." Cupping his hands to his mouth, the Englishman called out into the wilderness, "Martin! Chris! Where are you?"
"Over here!"came the reply from Chris as he clambered down from a nearby tree. "The coast is all clear, Martin! You can come down now! Martin? Martin!"
"Where'd he go?"
Just then, the missing Kratt Brother popped out of the snow beneath their feet, shaking himself dry. His blue eyes were wide open with excitement, grinning from ear to ear.
"Wow! What an exciting find! A surviving cave bear!"he exclaimed. "We've got to go and see it."
Chris agreed, albeit more cautiously. "I hear you bro. But we definitely need to be more careful." The pair looked to their companion to hear his verdict.
The Englishman was in favor. "As long as we don't startle it, it won't charge again, and we can watch it foraging."
Having decided, the trio slowly retraced their steps back towards the cave. They were quiet and extremely careful in their approach, careful to keep downwind, lest they startle the bear upon the slightest sound or scent. The bear in question lingered for a while in the clearing, occasionally sniffing the air as if to make sure that the three interlopers did well to stay away.
"There he is." Nigel whispered. "I can tell he's a male cave bear. The female has much smaller proportions."
"He's a big one!" the older Kratt interjected quietly. "11 feet tall on his hind legs."
"And maybe around 2,000 pounds."guesstimated Chris. "As big as a cave bear gets."
"I'm certain he was hibernating in that cave and what he's doing is he's packing in berries and the early spring vegetation."said the English naturalist. "Cave bears are not very carnivorous. They feed on anything."
"But they're mostly vegetarians, so he wasn't hunting us."said Martin.
"Because we disturbed him, that's why he chased us." Nigel replied.
"Guess somebody woke up on the wrong side of the cave." Chris remarked.
The Kratt in blue heaved a heavy sigh. "Sad to think that he might be the last of his kind."
Nigel frowned in understanding. "Yeah. Cave bears won't be around for much longer. Best we move on."
Nigel can't save every endangered animal he finds, so this time he lets sleeping bears lie.
Chris reluctantly followed after the Englishman. Martin looked back to the cave, before an idea hatched in his mind.
But not if Martin has anything to say about it.
While Nigel and Chris boarded their snowmobiles, the Kratt in blue walked back towards the mouth of the bear's cave.
Chris was the first to take notice. "Martin? Martin what are you doing?!" Chris had reason to be alarmed; in his brother's hand was looked like– a grenade! The younger Kratt and the English naturalist raced to stop the apparent insanity.
"Flippin' heck!"shouted Nigel as they tackled the older Kratt into the snow.
But it was too late.
Time seemed to slow down as the Kratt in blue tossed the grenade into the mouth of the cave.
"Noooo!"
A sudden flash of light erupted from within the cave. Chris and Nigel exchanged worried glances before they rushed for the cavern, Martin following in tow. The trio peered into the cave to see... nothing.
"Where'd he go?"
Prehistoric Park, 21st century...
Meanwhile in the park, Jimmy Z was on his favorite hammock wedged between two palm trees away from the hustle and bustle of the main park. He was on break, and what better way to spend that time than taking a short catnap with a glass of lemonade in hand? Just then, the hammock beneath him suddenly became softer, and... fuzzier? He didn't remember buying a wool blanket, but he wasn't one to complain.
But before he could relax in this newfound comfort, he heard and felt the supporting palm trees rustling under pressure as if he had gained weight. A lot of weight.
"Huh? That can't be right. I haven't gained that much–" The Tortuga pilot froze, hearing a deep, rumbling snore just beneath his bum. JZ was now fully awake. Eyes widened, he felt the fuzzy surface with his free hand. He then looked down.
Jimmy's panicked screams echoed across the park.
"Aghhh! A bear!"
*Back in Ice Age Siberia...
"You idiot! What have you done?!"
Back in the prehistoric past, Martin as at the receiving end of being chewed out by a very irate Nigel.
"Are you crazy?! What were you thinking?!" The older Kratt would be getting no help from Chris as his younger brother glared at him, arms folded. He had some explaining to do.
"I thought we could bring the cave bear back to the park with– long dramatic pause– time grenades! Aviva's latest in teleportation. She made them to better transport animals safely back to the park. Especially the ones that are more toothy and bitey."
"You've been snooping around in her inventions lab again, haven't you?" Chris asked dryly.
"Yeah." Martin admitted sheepishly.
"And you thought it was a good idea to bring along a piece of untried equipment on a mission?" Nigel questioned, eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"They were 99% percent done, that's pretty much there!"
The younger Kratt was naturally skeptical. "Are you sure? Remember what happened last time with the night vision goggles?"
"Don't worry! She tested them out, and boy do they work!" He then added, "It was either that, or letting another extinct species slip from our fingers. Forever."
Chris rolled his eyes playfully. "Oh brother."
Nigel heaved a sigh, shaking his head; he couldn't stay mad at these daft fellows for very long. Martin may be a few eggs short of a basket, but he meant well. "Let's get a move on, shall we?"he said with finality, ending all discord. "If we're lucky, the cave bear won't be the only animal we bring back to Prehistoric Park."
With the cave bear safely transported back to the present, it's time to get back to the business of finding a mammoth.
The three snowmobiles roared to life as the trio continued on their way. The further they went from the now deserted cave, the more and more trees they spied. The endless cycle continued on for what felt like hours.
Nigel decides the best way to spot a mammoth is to get up high to scout the terrain.
He and the Kratt Brothers made the arduous climb up a rocky hill which overlooked the entire forest. Once they reached the top, the sight that greeted them, much to their irritation and disappointment, was an endless ocean of trees stretching for miles on end.
"It's so disappointing to come back 10,000 years to mammoth country and all I can see is trees, trees, thousands of them. As far as the eye can see."the English naturalist grumbled through his binoculars.
"Mammoths need plains and grasslands, and there's none of that anywhere here." The Kratt in blue stated as he counted perhaps his millionth tree; he lost count partway.
"Why didn't we go to Wrangel Island?" Chris complained. "There were mammoths surviving there at the same time that the pyramids were being built."
Martin replied, "Need I remind you bro that one: we're looking for giant mammoths. The ones in Wrangel Island were dwarf-sized compared to their mainland counterparts, and second: DNA analysis has shown that the population suffered severe defects due to generations of inbreeding–"
"Okay, I get it! I get it!" the younger Kratt snapped before seeing his brother's hurt expression. He quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Martin. I just hope we're able to find a mammoth before... you know,"
The three exchanged worried glances.
The changing habitat is not the only reason the trio are struggling to find a mammoth. They know there's another factor that has driven them to the brink of extinction.
Mammoths are hunted by Ice Age man.
As the unofficial leader of the team, it was Nigel who proposed a possible solution, spying an unexplored section of land. "I think our only chance is a break over there at the base of the mountains. There may be some grassland and maybe we can find them there."
Without a moment to lose, the three adventurers started their vehicles. They now had a direction to follow.
And then a clue that mammoth may not be too far away.
Destination in mind, the three adventurers descended down the hill when the Kratt in blue noticed a peculiar object half buried in the snow.
"Hey, guys! Check this out!" Martin shouted, gaining the attention of the other two who froze in their tracks. They came to investigate.
"What is it, bro?" Chris inquired.
"I just saw it gleaming in the snow, right out of the corner of my eye." Martin responded, presenting the finding in his hands. "Looks like it's been carved from a mammoth tusk."
"Looks kinda like a flute." Chris deduced when his brother handed him the ivory piece. He, in turn, handed the scrimshaw to the Englishman for him to investigate. The oldest then blew into the hole, producing a sharp, musical whistle.
Nigel chuckled. "Some kind of instrument."
"If this hasn't been here too long, the hunters could still be around."Martin deduced.
"And if they're around, the mammoths could be too."added Nigel, following his trail of thought.
"Then we gotta hurry!"cried Chris, racing back to his snowmobile. The other two did the same.
And before long, there is a sign that, at last, the trio are getting warmer.
Three fast moving shapes sped through the ice and snow of the taiga forest, strange and foreign sights to many a deer or snowshoe hare passing by. As they neared their destination, trees became fewer in number, allowing for smooth sailing. Chris was in the lead when something far ahead caught his eye. He slowed down enough to investigate, but before he could, the roaring of the other two snowmobiles reached his ears. His eyes widened.
"Wait!"
CRASH!
Martin's vehicle collided directly against the backside of Chris'. "Whoah!" The force of the impact sent the younger Kratt flying–
SPLAT!
–face first into a pile of mud.
"Sorry!"the older Kratt called out apologetically.
From his place in the rear, Nigel couldn't help but laugh at the brothers' antics when his eyes darted to another clue in the snow. "Quick, here, look!"
Martin raced over to Nigel's side as the English naturalist gestured to the snowy ground.
"At last, vital clues!"
There, as clear as day, were a set of deep impressions in the snow, each one the size of a car tire. Martin's eyes widened. "Look at the size of these footprints!"he exclaimed excitedly. "They're massive! Mammoth!"
There could be no doubt.
Nigel nodded in confirmation. "Can only be a woolly mammoth. This is the front footprint going that way."
"Umm guys? I don't think this is mud," The ecstatic duo turned to the sound of Chris' voice as he walked up to them, his face covered in a sticky substance.
The cameraman visibly took a backwards step. But Nigel and Martin on the other hand were over the moon with the new find. They ran over to the younger Kratt.
"Now look... Look at this!"The Englishman began. "A concrete clue at last. Mammoth dung." To the disgusted film crew, he said "Looks gross, but it's not. Plant vegetation goes through the stomach virtually unchanged."
"They're useless at digesting plant cell wall cellulose."the Kratt in green informed, smiling despite himself.
"Cows can do it, elephants, not so much."added Martin. "That's why they have to feed for 16 hours a day." He then took a couple steps away from Chris, who gave him a glare.
After removing one of his mittens, Nigel wiped away a glob of dung from the Kratt in green's face. "And the crucial thing is...it's still warm, so this is fresh. The mammoth can't be far away."
"Are you done?"deadpanned Chris.
"Oh yes. Sorry, Chris." The Englishman stepped away, allowing Chris to finally wash his face with clean snow. Martin had even handed him a clean rag to wipe himself dry.
Suddenly, the deathly silence of the forest was broken by distant trumpeting call.
"Shh. Shh!" Nigel quickly ushered everyone to silence. "I think I hear something."
The sound broke out again, allowing them to pinpoint exactly where it came from. "Over there, I think."
The trio wasted no time in boarding their snowmobiles to follow the harrowing calls to their source.
But the boys are in for a shock.
The search led the three adventurers to the edge of a shallow creek where there was a wide clearing almost completely devoid of trees on the other side. But that was not all. Standing on the opposite bank was a gigantic creature that greatly resembled a modern day elephant, save for the massive ivory tusks and a characteristic coat of course, shaggy hair, reddish brown in color. There was absolutely no mistaking the identity of this animal, forever immortalized within the memory of mankind.
"Mammoth!"cried Martin.
"And there might be more than one!"said Chris, pulling out his binoculars. Nigel did likewise, getting a closer look.
"There's two."he confirmed. "There's one down. It looks like there's a mammoth trap. The second one's not moving at all."
The Kratt Brothers gasped in horror at the news.
"We'll try to get in closer, but there's something not right." Slowly as not to scare the mammoth, the threesome drove their vehicles as close as possible, stopping just short of the riverbank.
It looks like lce Age hunters have beaten them to it.
"Oh no," It was too late for one of the mammoths.
"I thought as much. This is a killing field."said Nigel grimly as he gestured at the prostrate form of the fallen mammoth. "The hunters, they've dug a pit, covered it with snow. The mammoth's fallen in, they've speared her to death."
"The other one's staying by her dead herd mate."murmured Chris. The mammoth refused to abandon her fallen comrade as she stood by, distressed and powerless.
"This could be one of the last mammoths remaining on Earth."said Martin despairingly, sadness welling up in his blue eyes. He froze. "Listen."
They could all hear a low, guttural rumbling sound, not unlike the roar of a motor.
"Oh, that is heart-rending! She's making this grumbling sound with her stomach."Nigel informed whatever heartbroken audiences were watching the tragic scene. Blind and deaf to the rest of the world, the lone surviving mammoth continued her crooning rumbling call.
"She's trying to communicate to her dead herd mate."whispered Martin in sad realization.
"It's a stomach rumble which they do."the Englishman stated.
"Of course, she's not gonna get a response."murmured Chris sadly.
As though seeing the futility of her efforts, the beast turned away, head hanging so low that her tusks nearly touched the ground. "She looks sick." Nigel observed. "Head held low, ears close against her head."
Nigel, Martin, and Chris crossed the frigid creek, slowly and cautiously making their way towards the mammoth who was now struggling to stand. It was then that the distraught creature saw the three humans, the same creatures that had so mercilessly slain her herd mate. She tried in vain to stand on defensive, but the fire was gone from her eyes.
"You're okay, sweetheart."said Nigel reassuringly. "Keep calm."
Her strength was beginning to fail her. The beast gave a low, pitiful bellow as she finally succumbed to gravity, falling to her knees. Starvation and her lonely and fruitless vigil were taking their toll.
"Easy, girl."said Martin in a soft and gentle tone.
"We're not gonna hurt you."added Chris.
They were now just feet away from the fallen giant. "We've got two females here- dainty, straight tusks."said the English naturalist, taking a closer look. "All male mammoths have much bigger tusks, corkscrew curve...at the end."
"She must've stayed behind to defend her herd mate," Chris deduced.
"They hurt her too."added Martin sadly.
"Hello, girl."Nigel said gently to the defenseless creature. The fallen mammoth lurched forward in defense, causing the trio to flinch back. But even they could see that her efforts were only halfhearted as her trunk flopped uselessly to the ground.
"She's so weak, she can hardly lift her trunk."the Kratt in green observed pitifully.
"And it's likely that the one that's been killed is this one's sister."the English zoologist theorized sadly, looking to the prone figure of the dead mammoth, laying in a frozen pool of reddened snow and broken branches, her shaggy hide pelted with long spears.
"You poor thing,"said the Kratt in blue, patting the fur on the mammoth's trunk. If the mammoth had any qualms about being petted, she no longer showed it as she rumbled lowly, almost welcoming the human's soft touch.
Nigel and Chris approached the body for closer analysis, Martin following them not far behind. The sight left them completely devastated.
"Mammoth populations got smaller because of climate change, but it was this that drove them to extinction - over-hunting by early peoples."said a distraught Nigel, turning to the camera crew.
"And not just mammoths, but many of the large mammals around the world are dying out at this time."added Martin, pulling up a three dimensional globe from his Creaturepod which depicted the global extinction of the Ice Age megafauna.
"Many of them, at the hands of humans."said Chris bitterly, placing a hand on one of the fallen giant's tusks. He then looked to the living with newfound determination; he would not let them take one more if he could help it.
The Englishman was the one to drive the point home. "The most horrifying thing is they didn't know any better, but we're still doing this sort of thing to rare animals in the 21st century."
As they turned their attention towards the surviving mammoth, Chris's sharp eyes spotted something half buried in the snow next to the injured pachyderm. He picked up his finding, which looked to be a straightened, polished stick made from unusually black wood. "Check this out."
"Maybe this is why she looks poorly." Nigel replied. It was all coming together.
"Looks like a broken spear."said Martin.
"She was probably defending the one in the pit and she was attacked as well."the English naturalist theorized. He gestured to the mammoth's left shoulder. "There's a wound in the shoulder, and it looks like it's starting to swell. We've got to do something quickly or it could flare up to a serious infection."
It was Martin who asked the question that was on everyone's minds: "What are we gonna do?"
"My guess is as good as yours, bro."said Chris. "Say Martin, you got another one of those time grenades?"
The older Kratt shrugged. "I only took one."
Nigel, Martin, and Chris are faced with a dilemma. Right now, the mammoth is too weak to walk through the time portal. But if they leave, the hunters could come back to finish her off. Somehow they need to get her back on her feet.
The English naturalist pulled out a radio from his coat pocket.
They call in their team who are scouting nearby.
"We've got a mammoth down." he announced urgently over his radio. "A very sick mammoth who needs rescuing, so if you can get here as soon as you can please."
"Please hurry!"cried Chris.
"Don't worry, girl."the older Kratt assured the ailing beast, softly stroking her good shoulder. "Help is on the way." The stricken mammoth only lowed miserably in response.
*Back in the 21st century...
Back at the Park, Bob's busy with problems of his own. He's having trouble looking after some of the dinosaurs Nigel and the Kratt Brothers had already brought back. He decided to treat Ornithomimus like ostriches and put them in a paddock, but they aren 't doing well here. They just won't eat the grass.
"I thought, 'well they look like an ostrich, they've got a mainly vegetarian diet', so I put them in an ostrich enclosure."the head keeper told the cameraman. "Now that was an easy mistake to make because although an Ornithomimus might look like, and in many ways act like an ostrich's prehistoric cousin, they don't like ostrich feed."
But Bob has noticed that these dinosaurs have more in common with Daffy Duck than Emu.
While the interview with Bob was going on, the rest of the park staff had been tasked with rounding up the skittish dinosaurs into the transport truck for the necessary moving arrangements. The camera crew followed the head keeper along a grassy meadow. "The answer lies in their teeth or rather lack of them. An Ornithomimus hasn't got any teeth. The inside of its mouth is very rough, a bit like sandpaper. That's very similar to ducks and geese, so I thought, 'Well, ducks, geese...ponds." Bob stopped, gesturing to a fair sized pond surrounded by thick foliage. "Why don't I give them an enclosure with their own pond, then maybe they can find their own food?'"
Having reached its destination, the truck was now ready to unload its occupants. It was time to open the doors. Armed with only a bucket of grain and duck feed, Bob stood at the very threshold of the loading ramp.
All he has to do now is to convince them it's a good idea.
"Come on."coaxed the park keeper, spreading duck feed along the ramp. "That's it now. Out you come. Come on..."
SQUAWK!
Bob jumped back in fright as one of the ostrich dinosaurs gave a piercing squawk before all the flock poured out of the transport truck. Now freed from the confines of the cramped truck, multitudes of the swift herbivores began aimlessly running and scampering around the open space in their new enclosure, squawking and chittering their confusion.
"Look at them go."
The Ornithomimus continued racing in circles, creating a vortex of dust in their wake.
Koki and Jimmy Z watched everything transpire from outside the paddock. "Hopefully the Ornithomimus will love their new pond." Jimmy remarked, an inflatable duck pool float wrapped around his waist for some odd reason.
"If they can calm down long enough to find it."deadpanned the technician.
Back in Ice Age Siberia...
Back in the Ice Age, it's not long before the team arrive with antibiotics. It's the only way to fight the infection that is rapidly taking over the mammoth's body.
"We're here!"cried Aviva as she disembarked her personal snowmobile. Normally the inventor utterly despised the bitter cold, but the chance to meet her favorite extinct animal was a once in a lifetime opportunity too good to pass up. She jumped at the opportunity to travel to the Pleistocene.
To the three adventurers, her timing couldn't have been more perfect. "Aviva! Thank goodness you're here!"cried the Kratt in green.
"Where's the mammoth?"she asked. Martin frowned sadly as he gestured towards the gargantuan figure laying in the snow. Aviva gasped, immediately smitten by the magnificent appearance of the renowned Ice Age icon. Her fascination quickly turned into horror upon seeing the poor creature's miserable state. The Kratt Brothers were quick to fill her in. The wounded mammoth was startled to see more humans arriving on the scene and tried desperately to move away, but her infirmity prevented her from either fleeing or fighting back.
"It's a really desperate situation. We're gonna lose her if we don't do anything." Nigel told the cameraman gravely. "One in four elephants, once they go down, they never get up again."
"We just gotta hope she's back on her feet by morning, and we can get her back to Prehistoric Park and look after her properly."said Chris.
"Don't worry, sweetie. This will only hurt a bit." Nigel, Martin and Chris looked on sadly as Aviva fired an anesthetic dart into the behemoth's shaggy hide. The mammoth seemed to calm, becoming drowsy as the drugs began to take effect, her breaths becoming gentle gusts as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness. Her suffering, for the time being, was eased. The burning pain on her shoulder was soon forgotten, becoming as chilled as the surrounding winter cold.
The inventor kneeled before the sleeping giant, gently stroking the base of her trunk. "Oh I wished I had my time grenades with me, but they're only experimental."she lamented.
Chris and Nigel turned to Martin with rueful glares. The Kratt in blue shrugged, a sheepish grin plastered on his face.
*Several hours later...**
That evening, the team had set up camp in the clearing. They were close enough to monitor the mammoth's health and progress, yet far enough as not to make her uneasy.
"Nigel! Wild Kratts!"
It's evening, and the hunters are back to claim their prize.
Tensions were high as one of the crew members spotted three figures standing over the rise, looking intently in their general direction. It became frighteningly clear that they were not alone.
Nigel quickly went to check on the mammoth, he found that Aviva was already there. In fact, she hardly ever left the beast's side, monitoring her health every now and again while typing data into her Mobile Invention Kit. "What's going on?"she asked, noticing the commotion around camp.
"Everyone's a little bit nervous." Nigel replied. Martin and Chris soon joined them.
"We think the hunters are coming in closer."added Chris seriously.
Aviva gasped. "Oh no! We can't let them get to her!"
"Don't worry."the English naturalist reassured. "We were gonna take it in shifts to watch her through the night,"
"Martin and I will take first watch."stated Chris. Martin nodded in agreement. The two then walked off to watch the perimeter.
The inventor smiled gratefully. That quickly faded as the infirm pachyderm gave a pitiful moan. "Poor thing. She's so sick, you just feel she needs some companionship."
The sleeping mammoth was blissfully unaware of the rising stakes, still under the influence of the painkillers and antibiotics. Nigel reached out to stroke the prostate trunk, the fingers barely twitching in response.
"Ay pobrecita."cooed Aviva sadly, her heart going out for the fallen giant.
As night falls, the prospect of easy meat attracts some more unwanted visitors.
As darkness fell over the taiga, the primordial night was filled with the eerie howls and cackling of the Ice Age predators, drawn by the smell of blood, prowling in the shadows. Needless to say, the haunting nocturnal orchestra was enough to put everyone on edge. Three beams of light moved across the edge of the black forest, scanning for any potential threats.
"Cave hyenas."Chris told the camera crew, wearing a headlamp, while Nigel was using his flashlight to scan the blackness. They presently fell upon a glowing eyes of a spotted figure skulking in the shadows. "You can tell by their yellow eye shine."
The whooping of the hyenas was joined by a series of spine chilling howls, the voices of gregarious and tenacious predators that will persist long after the era of the mammoth would end.
"There's wolves farther away."said Nigel. "If they come closer, their eyes will shine green."
Adding to the uncanny, monotonous choruses of the wolves were low, haunting baritone roars. The three creature adventurers quickly recognized those ominous sounds; they would be heard in a much later age, rumbling like thunder over savannas far to the south of the ice.
"Hear that?"asked Martin.
Chris nodded. "Sounds like lions."
Aviva was puzzled. "Lions? In Siberia?"
Martin nodded. "During Ice Age times, lions were very widespread. They inhabited every continent except Australia and Antarctica."
"Cave lions."added Nigel. "They're much bigger than modern day lions." As scary and otherworldly as the calls of the mighty Pleistocene carnivora were, they were unsurprisingly the least of their worries. "And the worst predator of all, the human hunters know that the kill is there."
And humans have no eye shine at all, so they're the hardest to spot.
Somewhere in the darkness of the forest, three figures prowled in the shadows. Pound for pound, they were not as strong nor as quick as the beasts with which they shared their primordial world, but what they lacked in physical strength, they more than made up for with strategy, cunning, and tenacity, which made them formidable predators in their own right. They wore animal skins and made fire and shelters to keep warm in the unforgiving Ice Age cold. And instead of fangs or claws, they created savage weapons, allowing them to bring down even the largest of all Ice Age game and earning the respect of their four-legged competitors.
Man had come.
Leading the group was a rather stout individual wearing a heavy bear cloak that covered his huge upper body. A necklace decorated with the fangs and claws of slain predators adorned his thick neck. Green eyes that rested under thick eyebrows scanned the darkness, though he hardly needed them; his abnormally large and bulbous nose worked just as effectively as the eyes of any nocturnal four-footed hunter. The big nosed human also carried a heavy stone axe that gave even lions reason to think twice before tangling with him.
The second hunter was a middle aged woman of noticeably high stature dressed in the most extravagant furs and pelts. On her head sat a fluffy white hat, while a dark cape rested over her shoulders. In addition to the furs, her neck and wrists were adorned with jewelry and trinkets of teeth, bones and ivory, as well as blue feathered earrings. Even her spear was crafted from the finest wood and decorated with shells.
The last one was a pale, lanky man whose skin was white as the surrounding snow. Piercing green eyes rested on a head that was rather triangular in shape, sporting a small goatee. The thick, bushy brown coat he wore was far better suited for someone twice his size. In his scrawny hands was an obsidian-tipped spear made of the blackest wood.
The scrawny man spoke. "Ehh ehh eh yo yao! Eën daga mammaf?"he whined. As he spoke, he made frustrated hand gestures and stamped his foot in the snow impatiently. "Lam pinkie winkie! Lam eensy weensie, eën daga–"
"Tam tam, Vomitaq."assured the woman, halting the skinny man's tantrum, rolling her golden eyes in annoyance. "Mammaf eën daga yahala. Ooga chaka mammaf floofata!" As she said this, she affectionately stroked the arctic fox fur scarf wrapped around her neck. "Ooh la la."
"D'Nita. Mmm. Mmm."the big one grunted, wagging his finger before rubbing his round stomach. "Mammaf. Yum yum yum yum yum! Ho ho ho!"
"Goh'mad."interjected Vomitaq as he planted his spear in the snow. "Mono kudu poongoo mammaf ura!"Reaching into his cloak, he unveiled a small piece of hide which revealed various drawings of inventions and weapons, particularly of a spear made of pure mammoth ivory.
"Kalakoozoo!"he shouted triumphantly, raising his spear overhead.
"Hmph! Mata skoung." Goh'mad rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, before they spotted something up ahead. Something out of the ordinary. "Huh? Aka, aka!"the big man grunted, bringing his companions to a halt. Hiding within the trees, they were able to avoid a beam of light that hovered directly over them before moved on.
Back in the clearing, the flashlights continued to scan the darkness of the forest.
"This is gonna be a long night."groaned Chris, standing some distance from camp.
Suddenly, several gray figures erupted out of the shadows, barking and snarling. Eyes glowing, jaws salivating, the pack of wolves charged straight towards the defenseless mammoth! Alerted by the scent and noise of the wolves, the fallen beast bellowed in alarm, swinging her massive tusks from side to side to ward off her attackers.
Nigel and the Kratt Brothers were quick to rush to the mammoth's defense. "No! No! Get away, get away! Leave her!" Nigel shouted, waving his arms and his flashlight at the predators. "Leave her!"
But the scent of blood seemed to make them bolder as they growled and snapped their teeth. Soon the team found themselves completely surrounded!
"Whoa! They're getting in!"cried the Kratt in blue.
"Oh my lord,"muttered the boom operator, holding out his boom mic defensively in front of him as a wolf locked its jaws on the 'dead wombat', shaking it like a rag doll.
On the Mobile Invention Kit, Aviva was typing furiously. "I just have to modify the Asian elephant power disk with the data collected from the mammoth DNA–¡Ay!" she shrieked in alarm as a wolf surprised her."Shoo! ¡Fuera! ¡Vete! ¡Vete de aquí!" Armed with only a flip flop, the inventor swung it from side to side in an attempt to scare away the voracious canines. To one wolf that came too close for comfort, she gave it a sound smack on the nose, causing it to whimper away.
"Aviva! The Creature Power disks!" The older Kratt was laying down on his back, trying desperately to hold back the snapping jaws from his neck.
"Just a minute!"the scientist called back.
Suddenly the beast lurched back, being pulled back by Chris who grabbed it by the bushy tail. Martin took this as the opportunity to break free. The wolf looked back to snarl at Chris whose eyes widened in dread. But the canine was shortly driven off by a shouting Nigel, who waved his flashlight while another one made off with the microphone covers.
"Get back here with the mic you crazy mutt!"
"There's too many of them!"shouted the English naturalist.
"Hurry! We need the disks now!"cried Chris to Aviva. The situation was now getting desperate as the wolves continued their assault.
From her place in front of the M. I. K, the inventor was working on overdrive, typing and configuring like never before until–
"Got it! Two Woolly Mammoth Power disks ready to go! ¡Listo!" She tossed the completed disks to the Kratt Brothers.
"Yes!"they exclaimed simultaneously. It was time to turn the tides. They rushed towards the downed mammoth, touching the tips of her ivory tusks.
"Activate Mammoth Powers!"
At the touch of a button, two flashes of brilliant blue and green light enveloped the two creature adventurers, briefly blinding everyone present. Once it faded, where they once stood, were two humanoid mammoths, trumpeting into the night.
"Wow!"exclaimed a wide eyed Nigel.
"Wow, I feel strong and powerful!"said Martin, admiring his proud new form, flexing the muscles in his thick arms.
Chris chuckled. "I hear ya, bro. I feel like–"
"Guys, focus!"yelled Aviva, calling their attention. The two creature adventurers exchanged glances before springing into action!
"Quick, we gotta drive the wolf pack away!"said Chris.
"To the Creature Rescue!"
Now the tables have turned; the very earth seemed to tremble as the two mammoths stampeded in the midst of the clearing, scattering the wolves in all directions, stomping with their heavy feet and swinging their fearsome tusked heads side to side. While his pack mates were busy distracting the humans and the odd-colored mammoths, one wolf slunk around the periphery to get to the easy prey. But something stood in his path, stopping him in his tracks. Something big.
"Back off, wolf!"warned the blue mammoth, right foot stomping the ground. The wolf reconsidered his options and ran away, whimpering with his tail tucked between his legs. Soon the rest of the pack followed his example and retreated back into the dense forest; they knew that they were no match for two hulking mammoths in their prime.
"That's it. They've had enough."said the younger Kratt, watching the fleeing wolves.
Martin laughed. "I think it worked."
Nigel heaved a sigh. "They're backing off!"
Once they were certain the wolves were gone, the three quickly went to check on the ailing mammoth. To their relief, she appeared to be alright.
The trio have managed to ward off the wolves, but they know their job is far from done. The mammoth is only safe if they can keep the rest of the predators at bay.
"That was way too close!"panted Nigel, walking towards the slain mammoth carcass in the pit where he began to gather bundles of twigs and branches. Once he had assembled a fair sized pile, the English naturalist set them alight. "I think we ought to build a ring of fire around the mammoth. That should keep the wolves from coming back–"
"Behind you, Nigel!"the Mammoth Brothers cried out, their heightened senses detecting an unseen threat lurking in the shadows. Nigel whirled around just in time to come face to face with the golden eyes and glistening fangs of a massive cat!
"Agh! Cave lion!"he shouted, waving his flaming torch before the huge tawny feline which stood over four feet at the shoulder. The gigantic lion swiped at the the torch, growling his displeasure as his tail was flicking in agitation, canine teeth shining like daggers in the firelight. The zoologist jumped back to avoid the paw swipe, but in doing so, he had unwittingly dropped his only defense sizzling in the snow.
Directly in front of him, the massive feline dropped to a pre-attack crouch, muscles bunching underneath him as he got ready for his pounce.
With lightning fast speed, the lion made his charge!
"Duck!" Nigel fell down without question, narrowly missing the cave lion's teeth and claws by mere inches! Chris met the lion's charge midway, sending the seven hundred pound cat flying with a sideways swipe of his tusks. The massive cat crashed to the snow-covered ground, stunned by the impact of the blow. As the gigantic feline got his bearings, a blue mammoth stood shoulder to shoulder with his green herd mate, both blaring trumpets of warning. Outnumbered and clearly outmatched, the lion darted back into the darkness of the boreal forest; no meal was worth this much aggravation.
Only when they were certain that the lion was gone did the two creature adventurers returned to their normal forms. "Deactivate!"
They were not taking any further chances; taking a single flaming branch from the newly made campfire, the trio set up numerous torches in the snow, effectively creating a ring of fire around the fallen beast. But while the fire kept the wolves and lions at bay, it would do little to dissuade other, more daunting predators. The younger Kratt was busy making his rounds around the perimeter when a spear planted itself at his feet.
"Yikes!"he yelped as he fell backwards. "Guys, we have company!"
The other two ran over to investigate the sudden commotion. They did not like what they saw.
"The hunters."said Nigel. "They've been skirting at the edge of the forest. I knew they'd return for the kill."
As the English zoologist ran to get his flashlight, something about the Paleolithic hunters caused the Kratt in blue to peer a little closer. "Hey Chris, is it just me or is there something familiar about those people?"said Martin, squinting into the darkness.
His brother nodded. "Yeah, a little, but I can't quite put my finger on it."
In the shadows, Vomitaq, D'Nita, and Goh'mad readied their weapons, glowering at these strangers standing deep within their territory, staking claim to the quarry that was rightfully theirs; they were not about to give up their hard won prize without a fight.
The Kratt Brothers quickly positioned themselves in front of the fallen mammoth, getting between the hunters and their intended prey.
"I have an idea." Martin laid his plan into his brother's ear. Chris grinned.
"That could work."
As the cavemen drew nearer, the Kratt Brothers placed their hands on the tips of the mammoth's tusks while pressing the paw print buttons on their vests. The three hunters had to shield their eyes from the blinding flashes of blue and green light. When the lights faded, the sight that greeted their astonished eyes was a pair of woolly mammoths, blue and green in color, and standing on their two hind feet like men!
"Doda! Doda!"screamed the pale one as he and his companions quivered in fear. Were these strange men gods? To the eyes of these wary, superstitious people, this had to be magic, the work of the spirits. How else could these men transform into mammoths?
But greed and hunger soon won out over caution; the woman was the first to attack, yelling savagely before hurling her decorated spear straight towards the stricken mammoth. Martin quickly deflected the incoming projectile with a sweep of his tusks, shattering the priceless spear to splinters. D'Nita cried out, lamenting over her broken weapon. Vomitaq charged forward with his obsidian spear, but what little courage he had suddenly left him as he came face to face with the green mammoth looming over him like a vengeful spirit.
"Sorry, but mammoth is off the menu!"thundered Chris. One swipe of his artificial trunk was more than enough to snap Vomitaq's spear in half, rendering it harmless. A bloodcurdling war cry alerted the brothers to an oncoming Goh'mad, charging with his axe raised in attack! Just then, Nigel arrived on the scene. Thinking fast, he shone his flashlight into the caveman's eyes, temporarily blinding him and causing him to stumble and falter in his charge. Martin was quick to counteract the burly hunter's stumbling advance, and with a single head-butt, sent him flying backwards into the snow.
"You can't get to her without going through us!"challenged the blue mammoth.
Chris was quick to back up his brother. "And you're not getting through us."
"I suggest that you all leave."said Nigel ominously, shining the flashlight upwards across his face. Not wanting to further incur the wrath of these evil spirits, the defeated human hunters retreated back into the shadows without a backwards glance.
Perhaps it's just the sight of Nigel and the brothers, but fortunately they don't come in any closer.
Martin and Chris raised their trunks, trumpeting into the night. For a brief moment, the forest was silent. A long pause, before a faint rumbling sound was heard, and the trio turned their attention back to their charge, who was slowly beginning to stir. Like all beasts, the mammoth had a deathly fear of fire, but she was powerless to take flight.
"You're all right, girl."Nigel reassured the great beast, softly stroking her trunk. "You're all right."
Aviva did the same, leaning into the mammoth's right side, listening to her slow breaths and slow, steady heartbeat.
The mammoth groggily opened her eyes, seeing the two big hairy figures and one of the benevolent humans that had protected her from the many teeth prowling in the dark. She rumbled lowly, accepting their affections. For the first time since before her sister died, she felt safe. She was no longer alone.
Dawn.
She's still alive, but will she be strong enough to stand on her feet?
Morning light revealed the riverside clearing devoid of tents as the crew prepared for departure.
It was time to go.
While the Kratt Brothers were busy kicking snow into the fire to extinguish the flames, Nigel and Aviva went to check on the mammoth who was beginning to stir from her slumber.
"You can tell a dog's healthy by a wet nose."said the zoologist, softly touching the tip of her trunk.
To the reviving mammoth, the inventor cooed, "You look like you've got a wet trunk, sweetie." The signs started to look good. Slowly, the hairy pachyderm raised her sinuous trunk, bringing the fingertips to gently touch Aviva's nose, who giggled on contact.
The Englishman chuckled. "I think she likes you."
"We're back!"came two more voices from behind. The pair looked to see none other than the Kratt Brothers.
"How's she doing?"Martin inquired.
"I think we're about to find out." Aviva replied.
In that moment, the mammoth found the strength to slowly rise to her feet. Nigel and company were quick to back away. "Okay keep calm."he warned his peers, wisely giving the rising mammoth a wide berth. He knew that if mammoths were anything like their modern elephant cousins, they could be extremely unpredictable. "The ears are coming forward."
"Back off, back off."cautioned Chris, motioning the film crew back.
"Even though she's woozy, she can still charge."said Martin. "Stay calm."
At her full height, she stood more than 10 feet tall, towering over them. Amazingly, the mammoth was completely at ease around the humans that had been kind to her. "She's not showing any aggression at all towards us."said Nigel, completely transfixed by the beast's gentleness. Instead, she slowly lumbered back to the fallen mammoth in the pit.
"She's going back with her dead sister."said Aviva with a sad smile.
The living stood before the deceased as if to pay her respects. With a swat of her trunk, she dislodged a spear embedded in her sister's neck, sending the foul instrument of death flying. That job done, she then gently touched the shaggy body with her trunk, before draping it over one of her cold tusks, crooning and rumbling mournfully, almost as if she had accepted her sister's death.
"Like modern elephants, these are intelligent and emotional animals." Martin told the film crew. "Elephants really think about their dead."
"The same can be said for mammoths."chimed Chris.
"It's so exciting she's up, but we've got to get her away from her sister to get her back to the park, and that's going to be difficult."said Nigel, addressing the elephant in the room.
The big question is will the mammoth leave her lce Age world and follow Nigel and the Kratt Brothers back to the 21st century? There's only one way to find out.
Time was of the essence as the English naturalist quickly set up the time portal. The moment she bid her comrade her final farewell, the sole surviving mammoth turned her attention to her unlikely rescuers, rumbling and trumpeting. The two creature adventurers walked up to the great beast, touching the tips of her tusks.
"Activate Mammoth Powers!"
The clearing was illuminated by two brilliant flashes of blue and green light. Once it cleared, in the spot Martin and Chris once were, now stood the two mammoths from the night before, standing just a head shorter than the surprised pachyderm. Donned in his Mammoth Power suit, the Kratt in blue trumpeted back in response. "Not bad for a fake mammoth." he remarked. Assured by the presence of two others of her kind, the mammoth made her way towards Nigel and Aviva.
"Walk on. That's it."said Nigel gently, coaxing the Ice Age denizen to follow. "Walk further." They knew what they had to do and that it had to be done fast. There was no telling how long her strength would hold out. As if she understood, the mammoth slowly lumbered closer, with the Kratt Bros walking just a few steps ahead. She would go with them.
"Come on. That's it."
"Come on, girl."
At the touch of a button, the transparent wall of time appeared out of thin air behind Nigel, Aviva, and the Mammoth Brothers. One by one, they gave gentle words of encouragement before fading away into the fabric of time and space.
"Right this way."
"Come on, you can do it, sweetie."
"Come on, girl."
"Follow us."said Chris, the last one standing, beckoning her to come before disappearing within the portal.
The mammoth followed them without trepidation.
Thousands of years flashed by in seconds, until the party found themselves within the familiar walls of the stockade.
She's made it back to Prehistoric Park, but she's in urgent need of help.
"Suzanne, we've got a mammoth. She's injured! Get here fast!"
No time was wasted as the injured mammoth was led to the observation pen to await for medical attention.
Prehistoric Park's head vet Suzanne hasn't looked after a mammoth before, but she's hoping that what she knows about elephants will help.
"We've just giving her a light sedative so she'll lie here and let me do this."she explained to the film crew. The mammoth laid motionless on her right side, breathing steadily.
"She's got a really deep, horrible infected wound, and she's got something stuck in it."informed Aviva.
Suzanne never took her eyes off her work as she replied, "I'm seeing if I can get it out. It's– a lot tougher than it looks."
The Wild Kratts inventor ran a quick body scan with her Creaturepod. "The important difference between mammoths and elephants is the layer of fat beneath the skin. In mammoths, it's an incredible three inches."
"I guess it's because she's an Ice Age creature, just to keep her warm, but it's making this is really hard to get out." The sedated mammoth moaned in slight pain. It took a great deal of effort and care before she was able to remove the source of the pachyderm's injury; an obsidian blade with a coating of red. "It's like a spearhead or something." She handed the Paleolithic weapon to her assistant, a young woman with blond hair. The more experienced vet quickly got to work cleaning the wound with a swab of cotton.
"We'll treat it like an elephant wound, just leave it open, not stitch it."she explained. "Elephants, best not to stitch them, they just heal up. It takes a long time, but she'll form a scar there. Okay... I'll need to give her another shot of antibiotics in a couple of days."
*In the Control Room...**
"The camera's working." Nigel, Koki, and the Kratt Brothers watched everything unfold from the control room. They watched with joy as the mammoth regained consciousness, slowly rising back on her feet, ready to begin her new life at the park.
With the spear tip removed and the mammoth back on her feet, it looks like she's on the road to recovery. Nigel and company hope that now she'll be ready to start her new life at the park. Later that day, she's moved to her new enclosure.
Some time later, and the entire team was gathered at a grassy area in the more upland regions of the park where the mammoth's designated paddock was to be. The enclosure's terrain was dry, made up mostly of Serengeti-like open grassland with a few trees and shrubs dotting the landscape. Mammoth Mount, the sign said.
Within the confines of the small wooden barriers, the park's latest resident took the time to explore her new home while just on the opposite end of the enclosure, the humans gawked at the magnificence of the Ice Age denizen.
"What should we name her?"Suzanne asked. Opinions were divided. While everyone else talked and debated among themselves, Aviva peered closely at the hairy creature that had captured her heart. For such an imposing figure, the mammoth's small brown eyes spoke of a gentle soul. "She looks like a Martha to me."she decided. "Like my Tía Marta."
Nigel smiled. "Martha it is."
The team decide to call her Martha.
It's feeding time at Prehistoric Park. T-rex are putting on weight. And the Ornithomimus love their new pond and their new duck feed. The beaks on these creatures allow them to sift their food, making them more like ducks than ostriches.
While some of the ostrich dinosaurs pecked the grass for the duck feed, others waded in the shallow pond, using their beaks to skim the water for whatever small invertebrates they could find.
"I was right about the pond."said Bob, watching the activities of the flock from a makeshift blind close to the enclosure. "The Ornithomimus love it. Look at them. They're dabbling about like ducks. We've given them a real home from home. Oh, they love it."
Jimmy Z was seated next to the head keeper, munching on a bag of potato chips. "I guess you can even call them 'duckasaurus'."he remarked, earning a laugh from the two of them.
Everyone is enjoying their food. Everyone that is, except for Martha. There's a big problem - she hasn't eaten since she got here.
"Keep piling it in." Instead of stuffing her maw with endless bales of hay as expected, the mammoth simply stood idly in the corner of her enclosure, showing no interest whatsoever in the food.
Vet Suzanne and inventor Aviva are very concerned. Just then, the inventor arrived on the scene, having taken her Hover Bike to pay Martha a visit. A green park jeep had already dropped off Suzanne at Mammoth Mount to evaluate the situation.
"How is she?"the inventor inquired.
"Not too well, unfortunately." Suzanne replied.
"She's just not eating anything at all. We're trying new hay every day."said a veterinary intern, a blond haired young woman named Sarah.
"And she's not interested." The head vet noted. To the intern, she asked, "Can you get Bob to get fresh grass? We'll try that."
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, I'll go and see him."
"Okay, thanks."
"Gracias."
Turning to Aviva, Suzanne explained, "I'm not sure what the problem is at all. We thought this would be a suitable enclosure for her."
Leaning on the fence, the inventor studied Martha intently. She seemed very withdrawn and uninterested in the activity going on around her. "The elephants like it up here, but she doesn't seem very happy. Is she sick?"
The vet shook her head. "Her clinical exam's normal, her blood tests have been fine, her temperature's normal, her wound is fine; it's not infected. I just don't know what the problem is. And if she doesn't start eating soon, she's not gonna be okay."
Aviva could only look on with concern, the gravity of Suzanne's words sinking in.
Martha needs to eat well to regain her strength. If she doesn't, the infection might take hold again and that could kill her.
*In the Veterinary Clinic...**
Back at the surgery, Suzanne does some more research. The veterinarian was seated at her study, surrounded by all the latest articles and research papers regarding mammoths, their biology, their feeding patterns, whatever she could get her hands on. Martha's life was on the line, and any piece of information could prove vital.
"This is a fossilised mammoth's tooth,"she explained to the film crew while holding up an ancient molar the size of a brick, "and this is a real elephant's tooth." Next to the fossil was the molar of a modern African elephant. "And you can see they've got really similar grinding and wear patterns. So I don't think it's her teeth that are the problem."
"And it says here, according to paleontological research, that the woolly mammoths were predominantly grazers."said Koki from her place by the computer.
"You think it still might be the grass?"the vet asked.
The computer whizz shrugged. "Or it might be that mammoths have a different digestive system to elephants. I'm just not sure. On an unrelated note, I finished analyzing the fur sample from that bear that showed up outta nowhere. It appears that the genetic makeup matches Ursus spelaeus, the now extinct cave bear, another Ice Age creature." The technician narrowed her eyes at the camera. "We gotta have a word with the Kratt Bros about that later."
Back on Mammoth Mount, Martha stood in the middle of her paddock, unmoving and unwilling to take in much needed nourishment. Just outside the paddock, Aviva, Martin, and Chris could only look on sadly.
Martha's getting weaker. Something needs to be done.
The next morning...
There was an air of great urgency as Nigel Marven and the Kratt Brothers stormed out of the office. "Martha's seriously sick. We've got to move quickly."said Nigel hurriedly to the camera crew as he, Martin and Chris made their way through the bungalow.
"Our plan is go back 150,000 years."informed Martin. "At that time, mammoth populations were flourishing."
"There will be lots of healthy animals. We can collect data, find out what they're feeding on, what makes them healthy,"added Chris, as determined as ever. "On the flip side, we also want to learn more about mammoth behavior in the wild."
"And maybe we can save Martha." Nigel added hopefully as the three gave each other another 'creature power bump' for good luck.
150,000 years ago, the world was in the full grip of the lce Age. Woolly mammoths were everywhere from the west of Europe to the east of Asia.
They were traveling back in time, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
*To be continued...
*I'm back! Sorry for the long wait. These things take time, especially this first half of the episode which is almost as long as the first two chapters combined! But it was worth it. Out of all extinct animals, mammoths are my all time favorites, so this episode has a special place in my heart. Thank you Ian N for your idea of having Thornsley in this story, as well as the suggestion of Wrangel Island, but there were several problems with that idea as mentioned by Martin, not to mention it would involve creating a completely new episode from scratch. Easier said than done... :P And yes, I was already intending on rescuing the cave bear this time around and thus, a new piece of transportation technology was born: the time grenades! If you ask Aviva, she'll say they still have a few bugs to work out, but they'll play a huge role as the story progresses, don't you worry. You might also have noticed that I slipped in the Wild Kratts villains into this chapter. Couldn't resist. Here's hoping the next part won't take as long (or any of my other works for that matter...). See y'all on the Creature Trail!